Primal Primate's Journey to find his inner Grok

Day 1, Step 1…

I suppose I should start a journal…

Why? I need to be held accountable for my choices and I sometimes need that extra motivation when I start to backslide that only comes from having your butt kicked by others who have been there, done that and got the t-shirt.

My primal journey started last June when my brother suggested that maybe I was letting myself go. Of course he waited until the chocolate chunk cookie was in my mouth before saying so! That wasn’t so bad, but the rest of my siblings agreeing with him kind of opened my eyes. What followed was some major self assessment on my part.

I’ve always been the big kid, husky, broad shouldered, built like a brick… well you get the idea. The point is I was often the fat kid. May as well call a spade a spade. I managed to shed some of the weight in high school but college was hell, late nights, beer, parties, beer, fast food, beer, junk food, beer, and suddenly the long lost pounds were back and worse they brought friends! I came out of college weighting more than I did going into high school! I struggled through my twenties and into my thirties. Always fluctuating between about 260 lbs and at my worst just shy of 300 lbs.

That’s where I started my primal journey. Within two months I was down to 275lbs. Feeling good, looking better and starting to be able to keep up with the active lifestyle I started to live again. Then came the holidays and eating out. Both my fiancée and my doctor have noticed the weight slowly creeping back on.

Currently I am weighing in at 282lbs and I want to see that start to come down again. According to my doctor if I don’t lose the weight any number of weight related illnesses could be in my future. I’ve been on meds for high blood pressure for the past 3 years. That’s about as far as I want the ailments to go.

My goals:

1. Lose the weight – ideally I would like to get to 180 – 190 lbs.
2. Get off the blood pressure medication.

Woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready to go after a solid 7 hours of sleep. Not quite the total amount I was hoping for but still enough to get the fires going. Had a quick shower this morning and was off to work. I find in the mornings I am not usually hungry hence skipping the morning meal. It could also have something to do with the fact that I've had just about all the eggs I can handle for a while - if anyone out there has some really great egg free breakfast ideas I'd love to hear them.

Lunch today was decidedly not very primal - had a small sub sandwich as I left my lunch at home. Supper will be primal however, although I am not sure yet what I will make. Also looking forward to another hour plus on the bike tonight.

I'll add more tonight after supper and the workout.

Update: I find it funny that sometimes the best workouts are the ones you really don't want to do when you get started. I really didn't want to get on the bike this evening. My legs were sore and I just felt sluggish. The first 10 minutes were nasty and then te right song came on and an hour passed by no sweat - well not no sweat there was actually a lot of sweat but it flew by and I ended the workout feeling great and wanting more!

Several days and no logs, as you can see I am bad at keeping journals! Truth is I have been busy the last week and this journal has kind of fell to the wayside. The name of the game over the last week has been stress! Planning a wedding, prepping classes for school and life in general have all kept me super busy with no time to reflect or to write about my journey. What has not fell to the wayside however is my primal eating habits and my workouts. I find I look forward to my workouts most days and the days I don't look forward to them I still force myself to do them. I also make it a point to get out at recess and lunch to play soccer with the boys from my class. Today marked the Terry Fox run at our school and for the first time in a long time I was able to keep a steady pace jogging for the majority of the hour we were out running. I still walked a lot of laps but not nearly as much as I would have before. I'm slightly sore as I write this but that is more owing to the fact that I was wearing my hikers instead of my FiveFingers or my runners.

I've never been a runner - my philosophy has always been "if I got to go that far give me a bike or better yet a car, " but today I found myself enjoying the laps. I suppose it could have been the novelty of being able to jog for more than a few steps but it also could have been the missing weight that I no longer had to slog around the field with me.

This past weekend I attended a wedding. I had not seen the groom in sometime, the last time we saw each other we were about the same size. I was a little shocked to see the difference in us. He has gained considerable weight and I have managed to lose a few pounds. It was a little hard to see him like that, I kept looking at him thinking - that could have been me - not up there marrying the bride I've found my own special someone to do that with , more in terms of the size he is. I know I'm no where near out of the danger zone yet but it was enough to steer me clear of the wedding cake and keep me on track. I know it sounds a little judgmental but I don't mean for it to be. I figure, if he is happy in his own skin with the extra weight more power to him. But seeing him getting bigger provided me with the kick I needed to stop me from slipping back into the old eating habits when confronted with cake and brownies and all those other sugar laden sweets. In truth it was kind of nice not to be the fat man in the room for a change…I could grow to like this feeling.

Tomorrow is "step on that damn scale day" - I equally loathe and look forward to it.

'Step on the scale' day came and went and although my weight is still dropping it is not dropping at the rate I was expecting - guess I am reaching a plateau. I have started to do two hours on the bike instead of just one hour a day. I try to get in an hour before work and then a second after. So far so good but those 4:30am wake up calls can be a killer! After three days of this my legs are still feeling good and I seem to be more alert and active during the day. Come 8:30pm however I am ready to sleep and looking for my bed.

I'd like to get some regular strength training in as well but with minimal weights at the house, a healthy aversion of the gym and a cold snap coming (got to love October in Western Canada!) I'm not sure what exercises to focus on to maximize my time and results. Any suggestions from PB land would be welcome.

As a teacher I get to see the best and the worst our children have to offer. Yesterday a student of mine proclaimed in a very loud voice that I was "not as fat as I used to be." I'm choosing to take this statement as a complement, albeit a very blunt one. I think this student was simply stating a fact - I am not as fat as I was last year or last month for that matter. This is one of the things I love about kids, they will give you an honest answer sometimes without regard to the feelings they may trample. Sometimes they give their views even when they have not been asked their opinion! All to often in the battle of the bulge people will give a non-commital answer because they either do not want to hurt your feelings or are scared its the wrong answer Not kids (especially this one) they tell it how it is.

It's a small success but one I will celebrate - this student noticed I'm losing weight that's got to be a good thing…right?

Last edited by Primal Primate; 10-03-2012 at 04:01 PM.

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

In an attempt to keep a "daily" journal I'm posting a daily for today.
Breakfast: 3 deer sausage (homemade) and 1/2 a cucumber with licorice tea to drink.
Lunch: 3 deer sausage (homemade), 1/2 a cucumber, 2 cups salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette dressing, an apple and water to drink.
Supper: Spaghetti Squash, homemade turkey meatballs and homemade tomato sauce, water to drink (planned as it is not yet made)

I have downloaded and started to read Mark's ebook on Primal Fitness and will be implementing it into my workout/play routines. I will post more later in the day.

I'm happy to see that my heart rate is in the proper range for my workouts, but I find that my amount of workouts per week are a little higher than those recommended by Mark in the book. I'm curious if I need to scale back or if I can keep working at the level I am used to working at without compromising things. I am looking forward to incorporating the WOW's and the LHT workouts as well. Now if I can just start getting the recommended hours of sleep a night (not the easiest thing for a teacher to do) I should be fully back on track.

Last edited by Primal Primate; 10-04-2012 at 01:28 PM.

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

Woke up this morning feeling like a truck ran me over sometime in the night. Nose plugged, head pounding, joints aching, temperature spiking… ah crap I'm down with the sickness! I suppose it was only a matter of time before it got me. The majority of the staff at school have already come down with the first cold of the year. So I'm taking it easy, eating a lot of garlic and some spicy foods, taking in lots of liquids and trying to get as much rest as possible. I am not one to take too many meds so I am hoping this illness will pass quickly. I'd welcome any suggestions for foods, hot drinks or other remedies to help overcome this cold as soon as possible.

Breakfast today - a bagel breakfast sandwich and coffee - yeah I know its not primal but it was survival mode and I was late getting out of the house for work.
Lunch - Leftover spaghetti squash and meatballs in tomato sauce with chili flakes, cucumber and water to drink.
Supper - Not sure yet. My better half is cooking tonight.

Looking forward to finding my way back into bed to sleep...

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

Got home from work last night and slept until about 9:45pm. Got up and had a little bit to eat then went back to bed. This morning I am still feeling the effects of this cold but I had more energy. I decided to get on the bike for 30 minutes which proved to be a hard slog today but I did it. Now to make my way home to visit the family for Canadian Thanksgiving. I am both looking forward to it and not looking forward to it. All the temptations to stray from the PB way of eating. My brother who is also living Primal will be there so we can take some strength in numbers and keep each other honest.

Breakfast this morning: two pieces of cauliflower dough pizza with pepper flakes, feta cheese, meat, onion, green and red peppers as toppings, 2 glasses of water with lemon in it.

Must make a mile or two - will up date this when I have time this weekend.

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous

Hang in there, PP. A little discipline, a little patience. A word about the biking...A couple of years ago I was walking every day and the weight was coming off. I started riding my bike and the weight loss stopped. It just made my hungry...

Thanks for the heads up Diogenes,
I try to mix the riding with walking as well and love to hike but the weather turning cold up here is working against my long walks. I have noticed since starting to ride more and walk less that my weight has not been dropping off as fast.

I seem to be feeling much better but still not at 100%. I think we have found a venue for our wedding which has taken much of the stress off me. Things now seem to be falling into place quickly with the wedding plans. Now just to solidify the guest list… I've been told this is the hardest part of planning and I believe it. One thing at a time I guess.

Tomorrow is the big turkey dinners. Yes that's right dinners - one with my better half's family around noon and then round two with my family tomorrow evening. The plan - no dessert, small portions of Primal style foods, staying away from the nog, alcohol, and sugary drinks. In addition a light breakfast giving the food that is to come. Oh and most important - a nice long walk between and after the dinners.

I'll try to drop a line tomorrow to document how my plan goes...

“There are only two options regarding commitment, You’re either in or your out. There’s no such thing as life in between.” – Anonymous